from the article:

The firing of Alberta’s election commissioner by the United Conservative Party government of Jason Kenney is such an obviously poor decision that, in normal times, it would be reversed by the end of the week.

But these are not normal times. Mr. Kenney, armed with a powerful double majority of both the popular vote and the seats in the Alberta Legislature, seems to be indifferent to the fact he shouldn’t use his newfound power for personal political gain.

The termination of the contract of Alberta’s election commissioner, Lorne Gibson, is the latest manifestation of this high-handed attitude, and it is by far the most egregious.

As elections commissioner, Mr. Gibson has doggedly investigated financial irregularities that occurred during the UCP leadership race in 2017 that Mr. Kenney won. Mr. Gibson has handed down more than $207,000 in fines to date, much of it in connection with the so-called “kamikaze candidate.”

That case involves allegations that another UCP leadership candidate, Jeff Callaway, ran as a straw man designed to attack Mr. Kenney’s main opponent for the leadership, Brian Jean of the defunct Wildrose Party, and then drop out at the last minute and endorse Mr. Kenney.

The two men have denied working together, and Mr. Kenney has dismissed the allegations as “conspiracy theories.” But leaked e-mails showed that a member of his campaign provided Mr. Callaway’s team with material that included speaking notes, messaging plans and a proposed timeline for Mr. Callaway to drop out of the race.